Matangi Tonga, Vol. 18, No. 2

The proposed amendment to the Tongan Constitution Clause 7- Freedom of Speech would replace the existing Clause 7 if government succeeds in passing it through the Legislature.

The existing Clause 7 reads:

It shall be lawful for all people to speak write and print their opinions and no law shall ever be enacted to restrict this liberty. There shall be freedom of speech and of the press forever but nothing in this clause shall be held to outweigh the law of slander or the laws for the protection of the King and the Royal Family.

The clause has its origins in the 1875 Tongan Constitution of Tupou I. The proposed amendment to Clause 7 reads:

(1) All the persons of the Kingdom have the right to freedom of speech and expression. No one shall exercise this right to infringe upon the rights of others and the cultural traditions of the Kingdom, or to violate public law and order and national security.

(2) The Legislative Assembly may by law impose on the rights conferred by Clause (1) such prohibition or restrictions as it considers necessary or expedient in the public interest, national security, public order and morality, for the protection of the King and the Royal Family, cultural traditions of the Kingdom, privileges of Parliament or to provide against contempt of Court, defamation or incitement to any offence.

(3) The regime of the media shall be determined by law.